NEUF

ben & nyah turn 18!

THE END OF Friday came too slowly for everyone's liking. The professors couldn't keep anyone 4th year and above quiet about who they were going to go with and what they were going to wear. The Thomas birthday party was one of the events of the year. Previously that day, the friends had all gotten together that morning during breakfast and sang Happy Birthday to them. Lily baked two cakes: red velvet with cream cheese frosting for Nyah and vanilla and confetti sprinkles with chocolate buttercream for Ben. The whole hall eventually joined in and they blew out their separate 18 candles, marking the beginning of their birthday.

Lily was exiting Defense Against the Dark Arts when she heard Professor Clearwater call out reminding students that their next topic was unicorns. Lily smiled — she had already done it with James. She found Henry and Nyah already conversing in the hallway, waiting for her, and nodded her head in the direction of the Gryffindor common room to let them know that she was ready to go. 

"So, just to be clear, you, me, Estelle and Ruby are getting ready in the Gryffindor girl's dorms with your dorm-mates?" Lily asked.

"Affirmative!" Nyah exclaimed.

"And the boys will meet us downstairs?" Lily asked.

"Yes ma'am," Henry exclaimed.

"And you've already enchanted the cups?" Lily asked.

"Righto m'lady!" Ben exclaimed, coming up from behind. This caused the girl to jump and bit and let out a yelp as she wasn't expecting him to be there. 

"Um ... good ... I'm so excited!" Lily exclaimed after regaining her composure. 

"It's going to be wicked!" Henry cheered, pumping his fist in the air. 

"Have you invited Will?" Lily asked, smirking.

"He'll be there already, he's a sixth year and a Gryffindor," Henry reasoned.

"Yeah, but he won't be there with you. He'll just be there. You know there's a difference," Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"I don't want to come on too strong, we already have a date!" Henry said.

"Whatever you say ..." Lily said, smirking even harder.

"Merlin why do you always do that?" Henry asked, clearly frustrated.

"Do what?" She asked.

"That smirk," Henry said with exasperation

"Well that's because she's right," Nyah pointed out. Lily high fived Nyah for her showing of support. And then just shrugged at Henry.

"Just go for it Henry, the worst thing he does is say no, and then you can get absolutely shit-faced to forget about it, plus you'll always have us!" Lily exclaimed.

"Never did I ever think I'd hear Lily Edwards in support of getting wasted, but anything is possible I guess!" Ben said in disbelief. Nyah and Henry nodded at his comment. "Potter must really be doing a number on you."

"No, I'm just not a total stick in the mud. I know how to have fun! Like I'm going to do tonight. James bloody Potter has not affected me one bit," Lily said as she shook her head.

Henry, Nyah and Ben exchanged looks. 

"Alright Lil," Ben drawled.

"Whatever you say Lily," Nyah hummed.

"Of course," Henry said, smirking.

"Ok what are you lot not telling me," Lily huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Nyah said with an innocent smile.

"That's bollocks and you know it. You all looked at each other weirdly and did that weird response. It was a little creepy honestly," Lily said with eyebrows raised. 

Nyah laughed while Ben shook his head and smiled.

"We don't know what you're talking about Lil," Henry said with a mischievous smile.

"I swear Henry Stints if you are planning something ..." Lily said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Henry mocked being offended; gasping and putting his hand over his heart.

"Lily Edwards, do you take me for a schemer?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Lily deadpanned.

"Are you stereotyping me because of my house," Henry said with even more dramatics

"Yes. Now what are you doing?" Lily said, unflinching.

"No need to be my mother Lils, I'm just having a bit of fun and you'll find out soon enough." Henry said with a smirk and as if sent by Merlin himself, Will the sixth year Gryffindor walked by, causing Henry to break away from the group to greet him. 

The three left watched, amused, as they saw their friend attempt to flirt with the poor boy. Henry, after years of practice, was much better at keeping his composure, but the poor sixth year was a flustered mess. His hands kept fidgeting and he couldn't make eye contact. Luckily, it seemed as if Henry was cool with it as they saw him reassure the younger boy. 

Then, it was Henry's turn to be more fidgety before Will's face lit up and he nodded. Henry must have asked him as his date to the party. Henry then slung his shoulder over the younger boy and they walked down the hall. However, Henry turned his head briefly, showing a big smile and a thumbs up. Ben smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets, Nyah clapped a little and Lily grinned and returned his gesture. 

"Well, now that that's settled, let's go Lily!" Nyah exclaimed, grabbing the girls hand and dragging her away. 

"That's fine ... I'll just ... aaaand they're gone," Ben said in defeat after being left by his friend and his sister. 

"Ben! Just the lad I was looking for!" Lysander exclaimed, walking up to the boy with his group of friends.

"Wow you guys are everywhere," Ben muttered under his breath.

"What?" Lysander asked, visibly confused.

"Nothing, what do you need Lysander?" Ben asked with a polite smile.

"Well, both of us are quidditch commentators this year — " Lysander started, while it was Ben's turn to be confused.

"I don't understand, I've been quidditch commentator since 3rd year — " Ben said with a confused tone.

"Right. Right. I was getting to that. Anyway, you're a wicked commentator and I don't want to mess with that, so I was thinking we add in more this year," Lysander said, clearly proud of himself for thinking of a compromise. 

"Like ...?" Ben said, urging him to continue.

"Right! So there's this thing in muggle sports called a kiss cam. But because they're muggles and they don't have magic, they can't do what we can. The boys and I could figure out how to make one that find the two people with the most chemistry and bam! Instant crowd pleaser! And I could operate it!" Lysander said, becoming more and more animated as he explained it further.

"That's a wicked idea Lysander, imagine all the trouble we could cause though," Ben said, with an uneasy tone.

"But that's the point Thomas," Lysander said with a mock wink, causing Ben to chuckle a bit. 

"Right, of course. But we could also have a day where the people with the least amount of chemistry kiss as well," Ben suggested with a sly smile. 

"That's bloody brilliant! Who knows, Thomas, you might be on the other end!" Lysander said, his eyes lighting up and pumping his fist in the air.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to go find Henry Stints," Ben said with a polite smile. "But it was nice coming up with ideas with you." 

"Great ... well ... uh ... see you at your party tonight Thomas," Lysander said with a curt nod and turned back to his friends who had been chatting amongst themselves. 

Ben sighed and walked down the hallway. Was he really looking for Henry? No. He just didn't really want to talk about that anymore. He didn't understand why people had the urge to kiss each other or want to have sex. 

He understood why people were attractive and he wanted a relationship, but he didn't understand the need for the public displays of affection or just the displays of affection if he was being honest. He was just ... confused. He turned the corner and found Henry making out with Will the 6th year and immediately swiveled around, but Henry saw him.

"Hey mate!" Henry called out with a wave. Ben turned back around and plastered on a smile and waved. Henry furrowed his brows. Something was wrong.

"Hey, I'll meet you later?" Henry asked Will. He nodded, smiled and kissed Henry on the cheek, which caused him to blush.

"Bye Henry. Good to see you Ben!" Will called out with a wave goodbye as he turned and headed down the hallway, presumably to the Gryffindor common room. 

"What's up?" Henry asked, standing a little bit away with his hands on his hips. 

"It's nothing, I'm sorry that I interrupted you," Ben said, shaking his head.

"Obviously something's wrong Ben, I've known you too long to know that something's bothering you. You're biting the inside of your cheek," Henry pointed out, moving a little bit closer to the Thomas boy. 

Ben sighed. He was right, Henry did know him and he knew Henry. 

"It's just ... I'm ... I don't know ... I'm just confused," Ben huffed, wiping his hands on his pants. 

"About ...?" Henry asked, moving closer. He then slid down the corridor wall across from Ben, prompting Ben to do the same. So they sat, side by side. 

"It's just ... when you kiss Will ... why?" Ben asked, looking at Henry with a slightly pained expression.

"I don't follow ..." Henry said, visibly confused.

"Like you and Ny and Lily and Ruby and hell even Charlie all talk about wanting to snog someone or who you'd most like to shag, but I just ... I don't know ..." Ben said, burying his face in his hands. Henry put a comforting arm over his shoulder and pulled him into a side hug. 

"You just don't really understand why you don't want to as well?" Henry asked, looking down at the boy. This caused Ben to look up. Henry gave him a small smile.

"How long — " Ben started with wonder in his eyes and furrowed brows.

"A while," Henry hummed and looked away from Ben. 

"Oh," Ben sighed, slightly defeated.

"You know, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's totally normal. For you, I mean. A word for people who don't wanna shag and kiss is asexual. There's a whole muggle community on the line and I'm actually positive that there are witches and wizards who are asexual. I'm pretty sure my mum is." Henry explained and smiled weakly at Ben. 

Henry then nudged Ben's shoulder with a smile, causing Ben to chuckle a bit. 

"Look at you, figuring it out. Well I have to get ready for my party date with Will, and you — you wanker — have to get ready for your birthday party," Henry got up from his seat position and stood in front of Ben. "But I will leave you with something your sister, actually, told me: shut the fucking door ... wait that can't be right." Henry looked down in mock confusion, causing Ben to start to laugh loudly. 

Henry chuckled, his shoulders shaking, "what she actually told me is that all of this, gender, sexuality, all of it is fluid and on a spectrum. And so if you decide something different in a couple of years, then that's ok, because we change over time." 

"Thanks, mate. Wise words from my sister, alright," Ben said, getting up and shaking his head.

"Maybe it was Lily," Henry laughed.

"Maybe it was Lily," Ben repeated, sticking out a hand for Henry to help him up. Henry did and they stood, looking at each other.

"Have you told Nyah?" Henry asked.

"No, but I was planning on it soon," Ben said, giving a meek smile. 

"Maybe she can help, maybe you guys have some twin telepathic thing," Henry said, as he stumbled the further along he got in the sentence. Ben started to laugh again, causing Henry to smile.

"Alright, mate. I'll see you later," Ben said, with a smile and he gave Henry a friendly smack on the back and started to head back to the Gryffindor dorms. This caused Henry to stumble forward a little bit on impact. Ben paused midway down the hallway and turned around. "Thank you. You know, for listening and stuff." 

This caused Henry to look up, as he was gathering his book-bag that had been scattered a bit because of his initial activities. 

"Yeah, of course, you're one of my best friends," Henry replied. Ben smiled and nodded before continuing down the hallway.

When Ben reached the Gryffindor common room, he heard the giggling and screaming of the girls from upstairs. 

They were having a pillow fight and Estelle had accidentally broken one of Nyah's pillows. Nyah, now outraged, was trying to catch the screaming girl who was running around the room. Lily was trying to catch Nyah so she wouldn't kill Estelle and Ruby was sitting and writing an essay that she forgot about on Nyah's bed. 

Also in the room were Nyah's roommates, Amoli Kumar, Mishka's twin sister and Isabel Hernandez, the Gryffindor keeper. Amoli was trying to stop Lily from stopping Nyah as Estelle had also broken one of her pillows and Isabel was helping Ruby with her paper. 

"I'm going to kill you Stell," Nyah roared as she chased after the Vietnamese girl. 

"Me too!" Amoli yelled as she tried to stop Lily who almost caught hold of Nyah's sweatshirt.

"You can just ask one of the house elves to replace it!" Estelle breathlessly said as she narrowly escaped Nyah's grasp.

"Please murder her after the party Ny! I have a really cute outfit," Lily complained as she tried to stop Nyah. Then Estelle tripped over a stray shoe, causing all four girls to run into each other and then land in a pile on the floor. Ruby and Isabel looked up from their seated position and started to laugh. Nyah blew some hair out of her face, reached over and smacked Estelle upwards on her head. 

"Hey!" Estelle exclaimed, proceeding to rub the back of her head.

"You deserved it," Nyah huffed, crossing her arms in anger, yet a smile still crept onto her face. 

"You love me," Estelle cooed with a cheeky smile.

"Unfortunately," Nyah said as she got up. She lent a hand to Lily who she saw was having a hard time getting up from the floor. Lily smiled gratefully. 

"Let's get dressed, we don't have a lot of time now," Amoli mumbled, looking at the clock on her bedside table. 

The girls then proceeded to take out the various articles of clothing that they were planning on wearing. Estelle had a silver sequined a-line dress with thigh high black boots. Isabel had a red pleated skirt with a Nirvana t-shirt, black fishnets, chains and heeled Doc Martens. Amoli brought out skinny jeans, a red ribbed tank top and heeled black velvet boots and a yellow oversized knit sweater. Nyah put on a long grey slip dress and purple Doc Martens. 

Ruby wore jeans, white Doc Martens and a white and blue checked sweater and Lily wore a dark green mini gogo dress with white gogo boots and slightly yellow tinted aviators. The girls giggled about boys and girls as they got ready. 

They helped each other zip dress and buckle shoes. Then they did each other's makeup. Lily decided to go for a more natural look, not wanting to wear too much, but still concealing some pimples that had popped up as she had just ended her period. When each girl got approval from everyone, they headed down. 

The party was in full swing after a couple of hours. Drinks were being passed around, people were dancing on tables, every crevice of the place had couples snogging in them. Nyah was dancing with a 7th year Ravenclaw boy on one of the tables. Estelle was on her third drink. Ruby was chatting away with another couple, standing next to Charlie the entire time. Henry was making out with Will in a corner. Ben was playing bartender, as he liked to do. Isabel had disappeared with a girl up to her dorm ten minutes ago and Amoli and Mishka were dancing in the center of a crowd together. Lily just took everything in, making sure that her friends were safe and accounted for when she felt a hand on her back and she saw someone turn themselves around to face her. 

"Potter! You made it!" Lily yelled over the loud music.

"Of course I did, I've been here for a while! And besides, they're in my house and my year! Plus you can't ever miss this party! Here!" James yelled back as he handed her a drink, she looked a bit skeptical. "I promise I haven't drugged it or anything, Thomas was teaching me how to mix drinks, properly at least, and I thought you might like this." 

She gave him a look as if to say 'alright' and then sipped some. It wasn't bad.

"This isn't half bad Potter! Did you use tequila?" Lily asked as James stood closer to her to hear what she was saying. 

"Yeah! Do you like it?" James asked.

"Sort of ... I'm a vodka fan ..." Lily yelled back. James then immediately grabbed the cup and held up his finger. She couldn't hear him but she saw that his lips read 'one minute' and then he disappeared into the crowd. She turned around and bumped into Ryan Allen-Chang.

"Lilyyyy!" he slurred as even with his drunken state, he recognized her. 

"Hey Allen-Chang!" she yelled over the music with a polite smile.

"Come on, love! You know you can call me Ryan!" he yelled, slightly nodding his head to the beat. 

"Right! Sorry! Ryan! We just don't talk that much, that's all," she yelled as she felt a familiar hand on her back.

"We should change that ... Potter! How lovely of you to join us!" Ryan exclaimed as he threw his hands up in greeting. This caused him to splash some of the drink in his hand onto someone behind him. He yelled a quick sorry and turned back to the two. 

"Hey Ryan! How are those quidditch plays coming?" James asked as he handed the drink to Lily with one hand, the other comfortably placing itself on her mid-back. 

"Great! We're going to crush Hufflepuff this time! We'll bring Gryffindor house back to it's former glory!" Ryan yelled, including dramatic hand gestures to go along with it. "Anyway, how's it going with you Edwards? Have you and Potter. ... you know ..." 

Li's drunkenness had obviously made him forget that James was there. Lily blushed furiously and started to shake her head. 

"I've been good. And no, Potter and I are not together," Lily said, quickly ending by taking a sip of her drink. Ryan was visibly disappointed. Lily then started hitting James's shoulder. 

"Potter! This is amazing! Oh my god!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes wide. 

"Good! I changed it a little bit, it now has vodka instead and I added in some other stuff," James explained with a laugh. The conversation no longer interesting him, Ryan moved away to the dance circle with Mishka and Amoli, the two did not take any notice. 

"Well it's bloody brilliant!" Lily exclaimed, smiling widely. She then turned around to ask Ryan something but he was gone. She and James started laughing, partially from the alcohol in their system, partially from the unexpectedness of not seeing him there. 

Then James looked at Lily. She turned back to face him.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she remarked with a smirk and small laugh.

"It'd take pictures of your beauty every day if you'd let me," James replied. Lily rolled her eyes at this and shook her head. 

"You look really pretty," he continued. She laughed it off, but he wasn't wrong. 

Her hair was tousled, held back by the aviators that perched atop her head and her makeup had sunk in more, so it looked more natural, but it wasn't smudged yet. Her dress didn't show a ton of cleavage, but it was still short and the gogo boots showed off her legs in a nice way. 

They stared at each other. 

James's eyes flicked down to her lips.

Her eyes flicked down to his.

"WHEEEEE!" someone yelled. 

They were interrupted by the noise of chanting and someone yelling. Lily looked up to see Nyah chugging from her cup and knowing Nyah, she was probably going to try and crowd surf. Not the best idea if half the crowd is drunk and the other half isn't paying attention. 

"Shit," Lily mumbled as she pushed past James and rushed away. She sent James an apologetic smile over her shoulder and then turned back to Nyah. 

James ran his hand through his hair, his brain going a mile a minute. If Nyah hadn't interrupted, would she have kissed him? Might she actually feel the same way? He dismissed the thought immediately, thinking it might have been a mistake. There was no way someone like her would ever go for a guy like him. He looked up to find Lily trying to get Nyah to come down from the table. He walked over. 

"Ny, please, come on!" Lily yelled as she motioned for her friend to step down. 

"Lils! I'm living my best life up here! I understand ... everything!" Nyah exclaimed with a wide smile. 

"That's fantastic Ny, but you can understand everything from down here! Please! I don't want you to get hurt!" Lily exclaimed, pulling a little at the hem of the girl's skirt. James walked right next to Lily, causing her to jump a little as she wasn't expecting the close contact. 

"Can I help?" James asked Lily over the music. 

"Yes, please! Could you try and get her down? She may listen to you ..." Lily suggested with a small smile. James nodded.

"Nyah, I need to talk to you about how we're going to beat the Hufflepuffs," James called up, motioning for her to come down. 

Then Nyah's face went deadly serious and she hopped off the table. As she did, she collapsed into Lily's arms, causing Lily to drop her drink. Lily, struggling under the sudden dead weight, almost fell if it wasn't for James, who'd caught Lily. 

After Lily regained her balance, while still holding Nyah, James let go. He then turned and picked up Nyah bridal style and turned to Lily, non-verbally asking where they should go. He couldn't go into the girl's dorm and she wasn't strong enough to carry Nyah up, so there was only one place. 

"Is it alright with you if she sleeps in our dorm?" Lily asked. James just nodded. "Ok ... um ... I'm going to tell Ben because he'll want to know she's safe. And then I'm going to ask Ruby to look out for everyone."

"I'll meet you by the portrait hole," James yelled back. Lily then disappeared in search of Ben and Ruby. She found Ben first.

"Ben!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lily! Isn't this party great!" Ben yelled back with a wide, drunken smile. 

"It is! I'm ..." Lily started before Ben grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the drinks table. 

"Let's dance!" Ben exclaimed as he started to twirl her around. 

"Ben! I can't!" Lily said as she tried to steady herself as she also had a few drinks in her system. "Nyah blacked out so I'm taking her back to my dorm to make sure she's ok." 

Ben gravely nodded, even though he was shit-faced, he still understood. 

"Alright, thank you Lils," Ben yelled with a grateful smile. Lily pulled him into a tight hug. 

"Please stay safe, but have fun! Happy Birthday!" Lily exclaimed with a wave goodbye. She shoved her way through the crowd a bit more, as she did, she got a couple of compliments from other girls on her outfit which she thanked them for and reciprocated. After a couple minutes, she found Ruby and Charlie happily chatting with Estelle and a Slytherin girl, whom she was gazing at like she was the best thing since sliced bread. Lily smiled to herself.

"Rubes! Charlie!" Lily exclaimed as they both whipped their heads around. She knew they wouldn't be drinking a lot because they planned on spending the night together.

"Hey Lily! How is the party..." Ruby asked with a grin.

"Yes, the party is going fine. I need you to look out for the rest of the group for me. Nyah had a little too much to drink and I need to take her back to my dorm," Lily yelled over the music.

"Merlin, is she ok?" Ruby asked, visibly concerned.

"Yeah, she is, I just want to get her out of here so something doesn't happen to her," Lily affirmed with a smile. 

"Rowena, of course! Do you need any help?" Ruby asked.

"No, Potter's helping me, he's actually waiting for me right now, so I should go, but thank you so much," Lily exclaimed. 

"Of course! Stay safe," Ruby replied. 

Lily turned to go, taking one last look at the happy couple and then rushed back towards the portrait hole to find James Sirius Potter exactly where he'd said he'd be. He brightened a little when he saw her. 

"You ready to go?" He asked. She nodded with a small smile and pushed the portrait open. 

They stood in silence for a moment, basking in the silence that the hallway created. A breeze found itself floating through the hallway, Lily took and deep breath and twirled around in the new found freedom as they walked towards their dorm. Her head, which had previously felt hazy like the smoke that was puffing from Lysander's lips, cleared and allowed her to breathe.

"You really hate parties, huh," James said with a small laugh. He no longer had to yell and he was thankful as this throat was starting to hurt. 

"They're not my thing, but if they're for my friends, then I'll definitely go ... but the dressing up aspect isn't bad," Lily said with a smile as she gestured to her outfit. "I quite like putting on dresses and make-up." 

Lily walked backwards as she was in front of James in order to face him. 

"My sister does as well. My mum taught her how to do lipstick properly over the summer and she's been obsessed with it since," James commented.

"That's why she's been wearing it! It looks really good! I love that peach color that she wears most often. But, as is common with red-heads, she looks amazing with red!" Lily exclaimed. Lily then really looked at James. "And so do you, it appears." 

James was wearing light washed jeans, a white shirt and a red bomber jacket with grey vans. And he looked really good. James blushed at her comment and then grinned.

"If I knew any better, I'd say you just complimented me, Edwards," James said, the grin evident in his tone.

"Cheeky git," Lily whispered with a playful eye roll. 

They walked the rest of the way in silence, Lily occasionally humming a little bit as she relished in the cool night air, James smiling as he watched the girl in her element. They eventually reached their dorm and James set Nyah down on the couch. 

He couldn't tear his eyes away as her own reflected every star in the sky as she stared up. She was better than a faerie or a siren or anything else someone could use to describe her. Because she was Lily and that's who she was. She painted dreamscapes without even trying and captured hearts with her wondrous smile.

Lily muttered a quick spell which transfigured the couch into a small bed. She then took of Nyah's shoes as James disappeared into his room to give the girls some privacy. Lily went into her room and brought out some pajamas for Nyah. 

"Come on Ny, just work with me for a few moments," Lily muttered as she struggled to both lift up the girl and get her out of her dress. She knew Nyah's mum would kill her if she wrinkled it, so she tried to be careful. Then, much to Lily's relief, Nyah sprung to life again, albeit lethargically. 

"Thank Merlin, you're alive. Ok, um Ny, can you hear me?" Lily asked. The girl nodded in response and then she started giggling a little.

"Li is really cute. Don't you think," Nyah slurred as she started petting Lily's hair. 

"Yes, Nyah he is and if you work with me, then he'll ask you out," Lily lied, needing her to cooperate. 

"He will?" Nyah asked wide eyes. Lily nodded enthusiastically. "Then give me those damn pajamas." 

Nyah stuck her hand out as Lily gave them to her. Before she left, Lily hesitated, she then dove back down onto the bed and gave Nyah a bear hug, causing both girls to descend into a fit of giggles.

"Happy Birthday Nyah," Lily whispered.

"I love you Lils," Nyah whispered back.

"I love you too Ny," Lily whispered, a smile growing on her face as she then pulled away. "Now get dressed." 

James was leaning in the frame of his doorway, overhearing everything that had occurred. He smiled to himself at the sweetness of their relationship. Then Lily turned the corner and found him, the smile still on her face. 

"Hey," Lily whispered. 

"Hey," James whispered back.

Lily leaned on the opposite end of the doorway, looking down at her shoes. James was fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket. Then Lily pushed herself off of the frame.

"I should probably go check on her," she said as she headed over to Nyah's bed to find her dress strewn on the floor, pajamas on her body and Nyah passed out in an awkward position on the bed. Lily lifted her a little and placed her under the sheets, squeezing Nyah's hand before she grabbed the girl's dress from the floor and hanging it up. She then found herself back at James's doorway.

"Everything all good?" James asked quietly.

"Yeah, thank you for helping me get her here and for being so cool with her sleeping here," Lily said with a weak smile, looking down at her shoes. 

"Of course, it's better than the alternative," James said with a small chuckle. Lily looked up and met James's eyes. They stared at each other for a while.

"G-" Lily started to say.

"You-" James started to say at the same time.

They both started laughing quietly, not wanting to wake Nyah.

"You go first," James said.

"No, no, it was nothing important, what did you want to say?" Lily asked, cocking her head to the side. 

"It's just ... it's nothing ..." He said shaking his head and looking at the ground.

"Come on, where's that Gryffindor courage?" Lily teased, playfully shoving his arm a little. James looked down at the place where her hand had come in contact with him and he smiled a little.

"All I wanted to say was ... that you really do look beautiful," James whispered. The intensity at which he was staring at her let her know that he really, truly meant it. It was as if he had seen every single girl on the planet and decided that she was beautiful. 

"I-" Lily started. But then, once again, she acted on impulse and pulled him into a tight hug. One hand wrapped over his shoulder, the other weaved itself through the hair at the bottom of his neck. One of James's arms was wrapped around her waist, the other on her upper back. 

"Thank you," she breathed out into the hug. James smiled and pulled her closer to him. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, but it was only a few moments. 

"I ... I should probably get to bed. We have Slughorn's thing tomorrow," Lily said as she pulled away, shaking her head a little bit. She then stood up a bit and kissed his cheek, placing one had on the other side of his face. "I'll ... uh ... I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely," James said.